oyster crackers...

That's my breakfast. Oyster crackers, graham crackers and ginger ale. Ben and I both have a minor case of food poisoning (his is slightly worse than mine). We made falafel and hummus last night for dinner, and we're trying to figure out what is causing the assplosions. I'm pretty sure it's the dolmas that we opened four weeks ago that have been in the fridge since. Ben thinks it was the falafels themselves because he didn't wash the beans properly before soaking them (and our oil was too hot, so they looked great on the outside but were gooshy in the middle). We still have a bunch of leftover falafel in the freezer, so when we bust those out for a quick dinner, I'll bake them up for reheating to get the middles cooked better. But I thank the Lord that we have two bathrooms now. Ben and I have never been sick at the same time (except for that night in California where we each had 1-1/2 bottles of cheap wine), and I'm glad we can have our own space. He's passed out on the couch right now. I hope he feels better soon. I think I'm over the worst of it. Now I just have to deal with an iffy tummy all day — something I'm oh-so used to.

So, I've already failed on my January knitting goals. The granny squares didn't get touched and the scarf is almost done. I could have finished it yesterday, but cooking our ill-fated feast was labor intensive took a long time. Wasn't in the mood.

I should get to work. Theoretically, there's a big quarterly catalog due tomorrow. Pretty sure that ain't happening. I enjoy this working from home thing, even if I'm still doing the same ol' crap from my old job. At least I don't have to physically see or hear anyone freaking out about some stupid thing. That helps.

trying to be healthy...

I'm still having issues with my acid reflux. I was hoping that removing the stress of my old job would help it to heal, but about one week a month, almost everything I eat ends up killing my stomach. I don't know if it's my own doing...I start feeling better, so I get a little lax about watching what I eat and drink until I start hurting again, and then I am a good girl who avoids coffee and wine because IT BURNS US!

I've decided to give up caffeine, alcohol and Facebook for Lent. I took a Lent-oriented Facebook hiatus last year, and it was kind of great. I don't know if I'll ever totally get rid of it, but not logging on for a couple of months was nice. When I came back on, I found myself wasting less time on it overall, and I started figuring out what stuff I cared about and what I didn't. I even went through a friend-purge, getting rid of 100 people who I didn't keep in touch with.

In the past, I've given up caffeine because of a need to detox. I was drinking A LOT of coffee post-college, and it got to the point where I would drink coffee all day and it wouldn't keep me awake. My coworkers always hated the first two weeks of my detox (I became a little bitchy, and I had frequent headaches), but I drank a lot more herbal tea and a ton more water. Overall, I ended up feeling better at the end.

I've never given up alcohol, though, for Lent. Maybe it's because I'm pushing 30, but I feel alright with the idea of not having a celebratory glass of wine for my birthday (always in the middle of Lent). Beer and wine certainly aggravate the reflux (especially my true love, Pinot Noir), so if I want to feel better, it would be best if I abstain.

I think Lent is more than 40 days this year...it seems like it keeps getting longer! I know Methodists don't require the sacrifice, but I never usually put myself through a battle of wills. I love love love coffee and I really enjoy beer. I waste time on Facebook. It'll be a good challenge for me, and I think I can do it. I'll probably save money, too.

Lent doesn't start until February 22, but I've already started cutting back on the coffee. Ben still makes it in the morning to take with him to work, but bless him, he doesn't make a little extra for me. I would definitely be too tempted to have a cup in the morning.

To help with the reflux, though, I've been really good with the diet. I still eat pizza, which is my one bad thing I should really not eat (stupid tomato sauce), but I'm being careful about what and how much I'm eating as to not hurt the stomach.

This morning, I made a blueberry smoothie with greek yogurt, soy milk, oatmeal, honey and frozen blueberries. I went a little too heavy on the honey, unfortunately, but it still settled well in my tummy. With that, I had a whole-wheat bagel with crunchy peanut butter and sliced bananas on top. Now, I'm having a cup of chamomile tea. As long as I'm careful with what I eat the rest of the day and drink lots of water, I shouldn't have heart burn (or it should be minimal and fleeting).

I'd like to get to the point where I don't have to take my prescription Prilosec anymore. I once tried to stop it on my own and the next day was incredibly painful. I don't know if I just have permanent damage that might eventually require surgery, but I can do all I can to make sure I'm giving my stomach a chance to heal on its own.

Freecycle and demographics...

I used Freecycle a lot in Somerville. I was able to give away a lot of things before we moved, and over the two years we lived there, I was able to get some of the things we needed for the house for free. I decided to sign back up again once we moved. It's an amazing contrast between the group up north and the one down south.

Up north, people would ask for things to help with fundraisers, projects, home improvement, and the like. Sometimes they'd ask for replacement items. The messages were straightforward, stating what the person wanted or was giving away, and that was it.

Down here, though, Freecycle seems to be used more for people who are desperately poor. I've gotten messages through the list asking for things like food for a single mom and her children. Clothes for a disabled person. Working cell phones because the person's second-hand one finally gave out. And each of them are written in a begging or pleading manner. Some of them end with a "God bless" like the signs homeless people hold. I almost find Freecycling down here pretty depressing, as opposed to up north where it was more amusing as to what people were trading.

I put up a listing for a bunch of random things that I think would be good prizes for a school or church carnival. I heard back from one person with Big Brothers Big Sisters and another from a local elementary school. The items were collected, but those were the only two responses. In Somerville, I would have gotten a boat-load of responses from people who get frothy about repurposing things.

I almost feel bad giving away more frivolous things on Freecycle down here. Up north, it was the culture of reuse/recycle/make no impact. It goes along with why Freecycle was started in the first place. Down here, it's charity. I'm having a hard time reconciling the two.

I dropped off a bunch of clothes at the Goodwill, and I think I may just use the Goodwill to make donations instead of using Freecycle as much for the meantime. Maybe it'll become a better resource for me when we buy a house and need to find inexpensive ways to fix up things or decorate. I know it sounds bad, but I'd almost be more willing to give away something I'm not using if the requester doesn't give the whole sad story along with it. If the posts down here were more straightforward without a back story, I think I'd be more likely to give. I don't know what that says about me, other than maybe I get resentful when people try to guilt me into doing things (I blame Sara McLaughlin and her ASPCA ads).

evolution of song...

One major perk of working from home is that I can play music. I listened to music at the newspaper on my iPod or through the computer with headphones. At my last job, music was verboten. Now that I work at Casa de Gill, I can do what I want! I've noticed a pattern about myself:

• Morning: NPR or Indie Rock
• Late morning/early afternoon: High-energy alt rock or dance music (mostly Lady Gaga)
• Afternoon/late afternoon: Country or Bluegrass

It's a pretty solid pattern. My best guess is the quirky Indie Rock wakes me up and the more rocking music keeps me awake as the day goes on. The easy rhythms of country or bluegrass chills me out as the sun is going down. I like it.

I've been working more. The invoice I'm going to submit soon will have more hours on it than the last two. I'm glad I'm able to make money while trying to get full-time work, but I'm starting to get a little stir-crazy. On my break today, I went to Wendy's and sat down inside instead of going through the drive-thru...just to be out of the house longer. I'd love to take every afternoon and go to the coffee shop with a book or the local yarn store with my knitting, but there's enough contract work for me to fill the day a decent amount. I'm not totally killing myself, though. I'm logging on to work usually around 9:30 and I'm off between 4 and 5. I take a lunch break and make sure I get out of the house at least once a day (forces me to wear real pants and to shower). I'm talking to a former coworker about redesigning some of her company's catalogs, so hopefully I can get that going and add another regular client to my list. One of the perks is that I may get paid in vacations (totally okay with that — no estimated taxes required on comped trips to the Caribbean).

Knitting update: The scarf has stalled...er, actually my motivation has stalled. I plowed through it this weekend, leaving me four stripes to go before I sew up the ends and declare it DONE. That's 80 rounds. Almost there. I have to do my granny squares, too, if I'm going to stay on schedule. Scarf tonight and tomorrow night, then granny squares this weekend. One week until January is done and I must move onto my February goals! Eeeeek!

officially a resident...

I got our VA plates today and cancelled our MA plates online. Ben still needs to get his drivers license, but other than that, we're residents! I think we did pretty darn good...we've been here a little more than a month. I've been spending the afternoon hanging stuff on the walls. Our cuckoo clock is up, as is our mail sorter/keyboard. We have pictures on the walls, and I'm formulating a plan involving two oversized posters. There's an art shop with poster frames downtown, so I'm hoping to find something with matting. The smaller of the two posters is Dali's Paysage aux Papillons, and the larger one is Kandinsky's Concentric Circles. Once these are framed, they'll look awesome in the bedroom, which is the last room to have anything on the walls. We weren't really planning on hanging much, but there were already a ton of random nail holes in the walls, and we're not planning on getting much if any of our deposit back when we move out, so what the hell? I have a plan at some point to make large prints of landscape photos we've taken and do a large art display on a wall. The other idea was to get prints from art.com on stretched canvas of all the places we've lived. There's a nice selection on there, so I'm sure we could find some complimentary photos or paintings.

I've been getting really inspired by Apartment Therapy when it comes to decorating. I'm also trying to pare down the amount of non-wall photo frames we have. I have a lot of nice pictures of family and friends, and we have a lot of wedding photos in frames, but they're all different and don't go together. I think I'll try to find some collage photo frames and Freecycle the standing frames. There's also a couple of enormous boxes of old photos that need to be sorted. I might just get a bunch of large matching albums and get rid of the mishmash of smaller ones that I collected over the years. Lots of projects for sure!

I think it's going to be a quiet weekend around here. The weather is pretty crappy...we're getting the rainy edge of the big storm that's dumping snow in DC up to New England. Gotta say, I miss snow for sure, but after last winter's dump in Boston, I'm kind of glad I don't have to contend with it right now.

Ben is playing Civ5, so I think I'm going to find some trashy TV to watch and do some knitting. I'm getting really close to the end of the scarf! Hopefully I can send it off to its recipient soon :).